Heckler and Koch has just announced a few additions to their polymer pistol lineup. Known as the VP9 in the United States and SFP9 in Europe, H&K is adding the much awaited long slide SFP9 L and compact SFP9 SK variants to the current SFP9/VP9 offerings. Digging a little deeper, you’ll find a Maritime model as well as an Optics Ready model.

SFP9 SK

SFP9 SK | Subcompact

The modern SFP9 Striker Fired Pistol is a fully pre-cocked system with single-action trigger in calibre 9 mm x 19. The pistol’s standard features include unique characteristics and innovative details. Patented charging supports at the rear of the slide simplify and assist charging without injury. The disassembly process requires no tools and guides the user through a mandatory course of action, offering maximum safety to prevent accidents. The weapon cannot be disassembled unless the magazine has been removed. Unlike comparable models of pistols, the weapon automatically de-cocks itself when disassembled. In addition, the trigger need not be pulled before disassembly. The magazine and ergonomics concept of the P30 were transferred to the new series of pistols. Not only does the SFP9 use P30 magazines, it also features interchangeable back straps and grip shells to provide a total of 27 individual grip shape combinations. Its excellent trigger characteristics promote maximum accuracy during rapid fire sequences. It is based on a well-balanced relationship between hand position, light trigger pull and short trigger travel and reset.

If I recall correctly, all three actually failed that part (as well as in a couple of other videos that others made). I guess the part that got me wasn’t that the VP9 failed per say, but that so many other pistols passed and it didn’t.

Rob

Watch the HK 2017 promo video on their website. The have a video of one firing completely submerged.

Joseph Goins

Wrong.

[1] MAC never tested the VP9M (which isn’t even on the market yet) which is different than the VP9 and VP9 Tactical that he did test.

[2] His “torture test” proves absolutely nothing about a platform’s ability. He tested a sample size of one gun for two separate models. His tests aren’t even consistent from start to finish. It is not thorough in any sense of the word. This is why he says in each of his videos that the content is purely for entertainment, not scientific, and shouldn’t be used to evaluate any gun not specifically tested.

[3] You didn’t even read the original comment correctly. He said that the gun didn’t work in water. You are now talking about it not working out of water.

M-dsaher

MAC is hardly a credible source for a review……..” oh im going to whip my gun at steel plates and complain when it breaks”

Sam

wouldn’t that indicate the need for a maritime version? if the pistol works fine in water, why would they make a separate maritime version at all?

DennisBechtel

twoo

plumber576

One optics-ready VP9L with a basket of 20-rounders, please!

Joseph Goins

One thing that I have to knock HK for is the 15 round magazine capacity. If Glock can put seventeen rounds in a magazine of the same height, so can HK.

Blackhawk

The grip on most of the newer H&K guns (P30 line, HK45, VP9) is actually too thin for that. Glock has optional backstraps, but the interchangeable side panels (or just the narrow grip of the HK45) make the grip too thin for a true double stack magazine.

I’ve shot my HK45 side by side with a friend’s Para 1911 double stack and you don’t realize just how thin the grip is until you compare it to something else. I’d really like more rounds, but I also love how that grip feels.

Logic Rules

The HK45 (the actual model “HK45” instead of simply an H&K in .45 which many people get confused about) having a partially staggered magazine that doesn’t quite let the rounds get in the fully staggered position (similar to the Sig p227/250 .45 mags) is something I’ve learned about from numerous articles, but I’ve never seen anything about H&K’s P30/VP9 magazines doing the same. Are you absolutely sure about that? Any photos you can point me to showing the staggering H&K uses in 9mm mags?

I find it hard to imagine that with the 9mm they’d get much width saving from using a partially staggered magazine instead of a fully staggered magazine. And I find it hard to imagine that they’d only lose two rounds capacity from what would otherwise be a 17rd mag (as I recall, the pictures I’ve seen of partial staggering make them seem closer to single stack with a couple extra rounds instead of a double stack with a couple less rounds).

Keep in mind that the grip width of glocks is a little bit wider due to the thicker polymer magazines. Simply using a steel magazine with thinner sheet metal gives you some width savings without changing the staggering. Also, I question how good of a comparison can be made between the polymer frame HK45 and the steel frame Para 1911. From what I’ve seen, the side panels on many polymer frames are much thinner than the side panels of metal frames like 1911s even after removing the 1911’s grips (interestingly, the side panel thickness of polymer vs. metal is apparently backwards from the similar comparison with magazines).

Side note: I’ve always thought there was niche to be filled between a single stack 9mm holding 10 rounds and a thick squat double stack holding 10 rounds (like a G26 or P30SK). Basically a midsize-ish pistol like a Kahr P9 or P239 that would hold 10 rounds without extended magazine, but still be a thinner that a full double stack. Now that I think about it, the S&W 9mm Shield magazines spread out their rounds a little from a true single stack, however they only seem to use it to make an 8 round magazine with the same height of what would otherwise be a 7 round magazine (simply adds 1 round).

ostiariusalpha

He is not sure about it because he is 100% wrong, I own a VP9 and the rounds stack with full contact in the magazine. The capacity limit has zero to do with the width of the grip or magazine, they’re both plenty wide enough for a 17 round capacity, and it has everything to do with the fact that the HK mags start their transition geometry from double stack to single stack further down the mag body than Glock or S&W mags do. They say this is for “increased reliability,” but really it just eats up a little over a round in capacity, with the type of spring and follower they have using up another round of space.

Joseph Goins

And what was their excuse for the USP and P2000 lines? They were wide and tall grips. No matter how you slice it: H&K has a problem filling magazines with higher round counts.

This is not to say that HK hates us and we suck.

disqus_q2cysxv2DF

So when do they expect to sell these in the USA?

plumber576

No actual idea but usually HK shows stuff at the NRA Annual Meeting, which for 2017 is the last weekend in April.

disqus_q2cysxv2DF

Option for no safety,Long slide,Push button mag release. Looks like a winner!

BlueMarlin Blues

This kind of content is why I come to The Firearm Blog. Keep ’em coming guys!

Blackhawk

Heckler & Koch using button mag releases? Damn, that’s one less reason for people to sell theirs and allow me to get a good deal on a used gun…

Anonymoose

I like the paddle release on HKs and Walthers…I don’t like the long, flexible ambi slide release though.

Blackhawk

I love the paddle style release, I just think it’s funny that so many of my friends hate shooting my H&Ks because of them. I guess it makes sense to build what the market wants, but I bet it will make them harder for me to find in stock.

When every other gun you shoot as a button release the paddle is annoying. I rarely shoot my Hk, but if I am attempting to do a speed reload the first few times I am almost always trying to push a button that isn’t there.

Sort of like when I drove a stick and rental cars would be auto, when I would come to a stop I would often reach for a clutch pedal that wasn’t there.

supergun

They make the paddle for the opposite reasons you give.

supergun

That is the coolest part of the gun. Kinda looks like an AK.

DennisBechtel

maybe a mod -24 h&k might look like an ak with a suppressor .

supergun

I was talking about the slide release on the side of the pistol. AKs have similar features. Haven’t seen a mod-24.

supergun

I will take the paddles all day long.

Edeco

5″ longslide? Pfft. Plus looks like they wasted some space could have been used for a few mm more of recoil spring/guiderod (admittedly the G34 does this as well).

Anonymoose

A lot of space is wasted on just about every handgun. Even Glocks waste space in the grip.

Edeco

The grip probably doesn’t work as well for as many people as it could if pared down. But to me that’s not as egregious as not giving the spring with the longest service life possible. There’s a subjective element to grips, but to me, in a pistol, spring length is more-is-more.

Most long slide models opt to lighten the slide and use the same recoil spring as the full size model. It simplifies the supply chain, and they don’t have to do as much R&D work.

Edeco

Indeed, it’s for ease of manufacture and is thus not optimized for end use. If I’mma take that crap, Glock can give me it.

PersonCommenting

Does H&K even like selling to private citizens?

Xtorin O’hern

yes they do, but German law severely restricts what they can sell to anyone

supergun

They can’t even put tritium sights on the guns in Germany. It has to be added later in the USA.

DennisBechtel

its about shipping radioactive stuff in the mail ,only reason why

supergun

The tritium is sealed. There is no harm from these sights. All guns with tritium are shipped in the USA. Are you talking about Germany. If so, they have got a greater problem with the muslims, then they do with the sights.

joe

Yes.

Sonny

NO. They like moving their US headquarters from one tiny southern town to the next tiny southern town to see which city’s name cannot fit on the slide.

Major Tom

Price check on Aisle 9mm!

disqus_fikVYdMc0U

357 Sig RULES

Sonny

Well that came out of nowhere. 357 SIG rules what exactly? 45 GAP?

supergun

I got one in the Smith and Wesson M&P. Good gun.

DennisBechtel

5×28 fn rules in a pistol that holds 30 rounds with a red dot

DanGoodShot

About damn time on the sk!!!

Rick Grimes

I think I like it.

Harry’s Holsters

I wonder what optics are compatible. Also what the price premium is.

Joe Schmo

“Optics Ready” without suppressor height sights… When will companies stop calling it that?

Anonymoose

RIP USP, P2000, and P30. Still waiting for a VP45, tho.

Andrew

This is not a direct replacement for the P30 because it’s striker fired whereas the P30 is hammer fired. This is a replacement for the VP9.

TheMaskedMan

True, but the P30 is $200 bucks more expensive for some reason, and its trigger is garbage compared to the VP series.

Andrew

Because the VP9 isn’t even really made by HK, they farm it out. The rest of the gun is garbage compared to the P30. The VP9 is just another uninspiring striker fired 9mm that doesn’t do anything different or better from every other striker fired 9mm.

The trigger on the P30 might not be amazing, but it’s a far cry from “garbage”. It’s heavier than the VP9, that doesn’t equate to bad. Plus you’re comparing DA/SA to DAO which is a complete apples to oranges comparison.

Sonny

Which farm makes the VP9? And please don’t say the same farm that made the Springfield Armory Croation handguns

DennisBechtel

have an old croation 9mm and it shoots as good as my p-210

Sonny

So by that logic the HS2000 is a great gun, a timeless classic, super acccurate tack driver because it’s from Croatia. Don’t get me wrong – I love me some Croats.

Anonymoose

I know. They will likely keep it around. They produced P7s for like 25 years or something, and they’re still producing USPs after 23 years.

Bucho4Prez

Loved my USP 45, but way to large for normal person hands. The magazine had a pinky ledge fit for Richard Kiel

supergun

I have been wanting to buy one of these H&K USP 45 tactical. Just have not pulled the trigger yet. What is your honest opinion on this gun. I have the VP 40.

Bucho4Prez

You could really feel the quality of the components. Kinda like slamming the door on a BMW vs a Buick celebrity. My only complaint(apart from size) was the trigger/trigger guard design as it pinches the crap out of the shooters finger at times. If ever I was to want to get back into 45, the USP compact would be high on the list. However, I have been shooting striker guns for so long, I don’t know that I would want to go back to the double/single world. The cost would also be an issue I suppose. People seem to be able to get ~$800+ for them which gets them transitioning into the realm of status symbol over duty gun.

supergun

Thanks for the info. I read where someone had both the Sig 220 Match and the H&K USP 45 tactical. He said that the H&K shot a closer knit at 25 feet over the Match. I have a Sig 226 Desert Navy which is one of the sweetest shooting pistols I have ever shot.

DennisBechtel

tightest shooting .45 that I have andI own many, is a sig 1911,and a Kimber gold match first model both have over 10k rounds and still on the first barrel and bushing.3ed is my h&k usp I have had since about 2000

supergun

Ever wonder how some people can win Nascar Races in a certain brand car and others can’t win at all?

TheMaskedMan

I still like my P2000 for IWB carry. I’ve personally never cared for subcompacts, and the full size HKs are a bit cumbersome to carry. Also, it doesn’t have the grip tape texture on the sides to grate on my hip.

I don’t understand why they would put an optics-ready slide on the 4-inch barrel as opposed to the 5-inch that you normally see in those types of competition. Oh well, just happy to finally get a longslide at all.

supergun

Only if the new gun is as accurate as the USP 45 tactical.

Eddie_Baby

USP and P2000 are on the CA handgun roster, so it’s unlikely they will be discontinued.

I still think Walther is a better striker fired pistol than any of these

Joe

COOL!

Blake

Steyr M9-A1 is a good alternative as well (& a real bargain).

DennisBechtel

the new wather pxx 9mm and .45 acp pistols have excellent triggers and way better tthan average accuracy ,got both in a trade two weeks ago and a steyr rifle with a comformal bipod in 7.62 x 51 nato can you guess which rifle this is or ill eat this entemanns pastry all by myself.

Mmmtacos

H&K may finally be listening to us… this is amazing. I really would like to see those 20 rounders though.

Patrick

I really hope that I will be able to just buy the long slide separately and not have to pay for a whole new gun, probably wont happen though

disqus_fikVYdMc0U

What’s a “Martime” model? Is that a Maritime model for editors that don’t have professional journalistic skills?

Tom

This is great. I don’t know how much the P30 accounts for HK sales, but it would be amazing to see the OR and longer slide options on the P30. This may get me into a VP9, though.

Of those sights, which is generally the best and why (eg sight picture in light/dark, minimal field of view obstruction, controls, build quality, etc)? I’ve owned an equivalent to the Burris, and also viewed and really liked the Venom, but don’t have experience with the rest. Thank you.

Sonny

Let me know when you have three weeks for a good response and I’ll answer. Seriously, this is akin to asking “9mm or 45 – which is better and why”?

DennisBechtel

commonly get rifles in trade.most have Nikon optics fav being an m-223 with a 600bd.nice clear glass rock solid mounts from Nikon also.

DennisBechtel

ya didn’t mention a night force atrac.

Joel

Know what seems to be missing? Optics ready M1911s.

Jason Higgins

Any idea when the compact will be available in the USA?

DG

I’ll take one of each please. I’ve been carrying a P30 or P30SK, but I’d like both of these as well!

Bal256

I hope optic ready becomes the new standard, as in how rifles are expected to accept scopes out of the box now. Would also be nice to have some commonality between micro red-dot mounting, but I understand design constraints.

Heckler_und_Koch ✓ᵀᴿᵁᴹᴾ45 ?

VP10, please.

Sonny

Ours goes to 11

supergun

I have the VP 40 with night sights. The pistol feels as good as any pistol I have. Enjoyable to shoot and accurate. Nice firearms from H&K.

Aloysius Jenkins

Thumb button mag release? They read my email! Just in time that I have to make a decision vs the new M&P 2.0…

DennisBechtel

still carry my old trustworthy usp .45 acp ,actually wore out the first barrel ,great all around pistol ,accurate right outs the box.

Sonny

Round count to wear out the barrel please?

DennisBechtel

about 70k for the first usp ,went through quite a bit in the sand box.

Tsuhobbs

Super excited about the VP9 SK. I tried to love Glock and well just no. And then I tried again and failed. LOL. I tried the Walther’s and meh. Loved the VP9 but prefer subs.

On the other VP’s coming out, I wonder if you can just order the Optics Ready slide? and then I wonder if you can order the maritime but get it with a Threaded barrel and Optics Ready? Or are they going to keep them all separate… It would make sense to me to be able to order each in different configurations but maybe not.